The conversation
Should museums actively campaign on contemporary issues?
Richard Benjamin is the head of the International Slavery Museum at National Museums Liverpool; Sharon Ament is the director of the Museum of London
Dear Sharon:
‘Engage’ might be a better word – campaigning might be a consequence. Museums should also enlighten, educate and excite. Many already engage with contemporary issues, so let us at last dispel the myth that museums are bastions of objectivity.
Within my own sphere, it would be inexcusable to focus on transatlantic slavery and its legacies without challenging contemporary issues such as discrimination, racism, human rights abuses and present-day enslavements. Museums need to speak for those who suffer injustices. Why should they be immune from doing their bit to bring about a just society?
Richard
Dear Richard:
It is about being hyper-self-aware and confident about their ‘content framework’. A self-aware museum is clear about the parameters and areas of engagement and confident of the subject matter (content) on which it will engage.
Museums happily avoid engagement, ducking behind the notion of ‘objectivity’ because they haven’t framed content or clarified their sense of purpose. While social injustice might be the core driver for engagement for one museum, for another it might be biodiversity loss.
Sharon
Dear Sharon:
A sense of purpose (and duty) should be in a museum’s genes. It therefore helps to have a clear strategy and strong leadership. Staff subjectivity, experiences and ideals should not be ignored. But strategy provides clarity – what is required and why.
Promoting social justice, campaigning and being a democratic museum service are big commitments that need the support of everyone. An ethos might then filter into their work and shape their outlook – whether that is front-of-house, an exhibition, educational resource, or an object linked to slavery, suffragettism or surrealism.
Richard
Dear Richard:
Commitment does form a museum’s DNA, but giving staff the freedom and facility to engage is the hard part. Our content framework sets parameters around four themes; our job is to establish it in all our work. I’m not sure about “staff subjectivity”.
Audiences demand robust thinking from museums – surely, that’s our job? This is why our content framework was based on a year’s consultation and investigation – polling 1,000 Londoners, talking to thought-leaders, analysing research reports and public surveys. This gives us the basis to connect with the issues that Londoners are talking about.
Sharon
Dear Sharon:
Museums are human and there is a role for subjectivity. Our decision to join the Liverpool Hate Crime Reduction Forum was largely due to several staff experiencing racism. Utilising experiences, relationships and skills, museums can develop programming and content that can be sensitive and contentious.
The right culture helps – one where making a difference and campaigning for what’s right is promoted, and apathy frowned on. I am intrigued by ‘rapid response’ contemporary collecting, but for us, it is not just about cataloguing our changing society, but playing our part in that change.
Richard
Dear Richard:
A perfect description of how a museum can contribute to a societal issue within the context of its subject matter. By holding a rich record of London’s development, we can participate in, and foster conversations around, what matters to Londoners; the city’s future as a place to live and work; and those things that make London compellingly wonderful, as well as tense and challenging.
Our collections – the ‘stuff’ of London – inspire conversations and evidence change. I’d urge museums to consider what issues are at the heart of their stuff and to formulate an organisational manifesto by which to stand.
Sharon
Dear Sharon:
‘Engage’ might be a better word – campaigning might be a consequence. Museums should also enlighten, educate and excite. Many already engage with contemporary issues, so let us at last dispel the myth that museums are bastions of objectivity.
Within my own sphere, it would be inexcusable to focus on transatlantic slavery and its legacies without challenging contemporary issues such as discrimination, racism, human rights abuses and present-day enslavements. Museums need to speak for those who suffer injustices. Why should they be immune from doing their bit to bring about a just society?
Richard
Dear Richard:
It is about being hyper-self-aware and confident about their ‘content framework’. A self-aware museum is clear about the parameters and areas of engagement and confident of the subject matter (content) on which it will engage.
Museums happily avoid engagement, ducking behind the notion of ‘objectivity’ because they haven’t framed content or clarified their sense of purpose. While social injustice might be the core driver for engagement for one museum, for another it might be biodiversity loss.
Sharon
Dear Sharon:
A sense of purpose (and duty) should be in a museum’s genes. It therefore helps to have a clear strategy and strong leadership. Staff subjectivity, experiences and ideals should not be ignored. But strategy provides clarity – what is required and why.
Promoting social justice, campaigning and being a democratic museum service are big commitments that need the support of everyone. An ethos might then filter into their work and shape their outlook – whether that is front-of-house, an exhibition, educational resource, or an object linked to slavery, suffragettism or surrealism.
Richard
Dear Richard:
Commitment does form a museum’s DNA, but giving staff the freedom and facility to engage is the hard part. Our content framework sets parameters around four themes; our job is to establish it in all our work. I’m not sure about “staff subjectivity”.
Audiences demand robust thinking from museums – surely, that’s our job? This is why our content framework was based on a year’s consultation and investigation – polling 1,000 Londoners, talking to thought-leaders, analysing research reports and public surveys. This gives us the basis to connect with the issues that Londoners are talking about.
Sharon
Dear Sharon:
Museums are human and there is a role for subjectivity. Our decision to join the Liverpool Hate Crime Reduction Forum was largely due to several staff experiencing racism. Utilising experiences, relationships and skills, museums can develop programming and content that can be sensitive and contentious.
The right culture helps – one where making a difference and campaigning for what’s right is promoted, and apathy frowned on. I am intrigued by ‘rapid response’ contemporary collecting, but for us, it is not just about cataloguing our changing society, but playing our part in that change.
Richard
Dear Richard:
A perfect description of how a museum can contribute to a societal issue within the context of its subject matter. By holding a rich record of London’s development, we can participate in, and foster conversations around, what matters to Londoners; the city’s future as a place to live and work; and those things that make London compellingly wonderful, as well as tense and challenging.
Our collections – the ‘stuff’ of London – inspire conversations and evidence change. I’d urge museums to consider what issues are at the heart of their stuff and to formulate an organisational manifesto by which to stand.
Sharon